


Spring Comes Early At Wolf U

by ChangingMyUserName



Series: How To Succeed at Friendship Without Looking Like Your Trying Too Hard [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Asexual Character, Asexuality, College, Established Relationship, Fluff, Human, Humor, Skiing, Spring Break, and other snow adventures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2019-09-05 22:26:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16819672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangingMyUserName/pseuds/ChangingMyUserName
Summary: The pack (now including Laura and Cora) go on spring break to the Hale’s winter cabin. Nonsense ensues as can be expected. What wasn't expected is the emotional growth Derek and Stiles experience in their relationship. Also, what's going on with Lydia and Laura?





	1. March Is A Useless Month

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of my story "Wolf University." You don't necessarily have to have read it but it would probably be more fun. We pick up around 3 months after the last chapter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV: Stiles

Waiting at Lydia and Allison’s apartment for their friends to arrive, Scott and Stiles lie with their backs on the floor and their legs on either end of the couch rolling a lacrosse ball between them. Derek invited their entire group of friends to spend spring break skiing at the Hale family cabin. Although he’s never been skiing or snowboarding before, Stiles is pumped for the trip. That is until he remembers that Derek’s sisters Laura and Cora will be joining them. Then a wave of nerves crash over him.  
With Lydia’s car in the shop, Jackson’s Porsche only having two seats, and Stiles’ jeep unable to make the long journey, the group chipped in to get three sensable rental cars from the company that has a discount for students at their University, and a convenient pick up location on campus which the Hale siblings volunteered to walk over to. Everyone else has been steadily arriving at at Lydia and Allison’s apartment. The hostesses themselves are currently bustling around grabbing what seems to Stiles like random items, going through their bags, and checking things off on a list to make sure they have everything they could possibly need.  
A cool breeze flips the pages in Jackson’s book, who had been reading next to the open window, legs draped over one arm of the plush sitting room chair. Zipping up his sweatshirt, Jackson asks the room at large, "Aren’t we supposed to go somewhere warm for spring break?”  
“It's the beginning of March there is nowhere warm.” Stiles replies, fed up with Jacksons complaints.  
“Ever heard of Mexico?” Jackson questions sarcastically, slapping his book closed. “That's pretty warm.”  
“You want to go to Mexico Jackson?” Stiles asks gripping the lacrosse ball tightly in his fist.  
“If it's warm, maybe!”  
“Fine go have your ass eaten by the chupacabra, we’ll make a snowman for you!”  
“At least _i’ll_ get some!”  
“Derek and I are in a new relationship, these things take time!”  
“SO ISN’T IT WEIRD HOW SOMETIMES MARCH IS WARM AND OTHER TIMES ITS COLD?” Scott asks loudly.  
Stiles can tell he’s trying to break the tension in the room and turns away from Jackson to smile at his friend and finally pass him the ball. “Yea March is dumb.”  
“Stupid March.” Scott agrees, rolling the ball back across the floor.  
“It is quite an annoyingly time to have spring break.”  
“Well at least we’re going somewhere that's supposed to be really nice, right Isaac?” Scott asks spotting their friend walking by.  
“Yea the Hale cabin is awesome.” Isaac surveys the room, shrugs his shoulders, and lowers himself to the floor mimicking their positions against the other couch.  
“Great place for some _romance_?” Scott rolls the ball over to Isaac accentuating the last word by wiggling his eyebrows at Stiles.  
“Yea Stilinski, maybe the beautiful scenery will counteract your face and you’ll finally lose your virginity.” Jackson suggests from his position above them.  
“We’re taking it slow!” Stiles snaps, throwing the ball at Jackson’s face. Jackson grabs the ball before it can break his nose and throws it blindly out the window in retribution.  
“Oww what the fuck!” they hear an unfamiliar female voice yell in surprise.  
“Oh my gods they’re here” Stiles turns to Scott suddenly in a panic, legs flailing and falling off the couch in a heap.  
“Dude you’ve got this. They’re gonna love you.” Scott says, gracefully rolling over his shoulder away from the couch. Now that Scott is no longer distracting him from the all important Hale sibling meeting that may very well decide the fate of his and Derek’s relationship, Stiles can feel the fear closing in on him again. He still has no idea how he is going to convince them that he’s good enough to date their amazing brother.  
“Just be yourself.” Scott says as if sensing his half formed acting idea. “They’ll love you. Right Isaac?”  
Isaac looks Stiles up and down as if assessing him. He shrugs and says, “Ehh it could go either way.”  
Jackson barks a laugh as Scott reprimands Isaac for messing with Stiles when he is clearly in a state. Stiles doesn't have time to take offence as Lydia, who Stiles assumes had gone outside to put her bags in what she deemed to be the best car, opens the front door and leads the newcomers inside.  
A beautiful woman, who looks like she couldn't be more than a year older than them walks in after Lydia holding a lacrosse ball, thankfully not looking like she wants to murder its owner. Behind her, twirling a pair of keys around her finger, is a similar looking, slightly younger brunette.  
“Which one is Stiles?” The first woman asks loudly.  
“Laura don’t be weird.” Derek says behind her.  
“I am not weird.” Affronted, Laura turns around to face her siblings. “Right Cora?”  
“You _are_ weird.” Cora says, pushing past her sister. “But not in this particular instance.”  
As the Hales bicker Lydia spots Stiles behind the couch, rolls her eyes, and impatiently gestures for him to join them in the entryway. Stiles makes a sad face at her as he slowly stands and walks towards them.  
“And here is Stiles.” Lydia announces, putting her hands on his shoulders and propelling him the remaining three feet Stiles couldn’t convince his legs to cross. She then completely deserts him to start herding everyone else outside. Stiles is left to awkwardly wave at the three Hales surrounding him. At least he gets an encouraging smile from Derek.  
Cora and Laura introduce themselves and each give Stiles a firm handshake. Laura however, does not release Stiles’ hand and instead stares intently into his eyes.  
“Aries.” Laura says after a few seconds of serious contemplation.  
“The god of war?” Stiles asks, confused as to why Laura would want to talk about Greek Mythology right now.  
Derek heaves a classic world weary sigh of the middle sibling, “She’s trying to guess your star sign-”  
“Which she has never once been able to do.” Cora interjects.  
“-because I told her not to be weird.”  
“Oh.” Stiles laughs nervously. “I think i’m a stegosaurus or something?”  
“Sagittarius?” Laura asks.  
“Sure.” Stiles isn’t sure he’s ever heard that word before.  
“Born in December?”  
“Close.”  
“Late November?”  
“April.”  
Laura finally drops his hand, rolling her eyes the way Derek does sometimes. Cora gives Stiles an appreciative smirk. Before Stiles can BS his way through another conversation topic, they notice Lydia struggling towards the door with two overstuffed duffel bags.  
“Let us help you with that.” Laura offers, “Oh, and I believe this is yours ‘S.S.’ Here ya go.” Laura tosses Stiles the lacrosse ball that went out the window, which Stiles only realizes now, has _his_ initials on it.  
“I didn’t throw it!” Stiles blurts out. “Well not at you.”  
“I’ve got my eye on you.” Laura says as she and Cora turn to help Lydia outside with the rest of the bags.  
Stiles quickly turns to Derek, “I didn’t throw it!”  
Derek laughs, “She’s just messing with you. You did good.” Derek assures Stiles who releases a long sigh of relief after the door closes behind the girls. Stiles puts his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder and Derek wraps his arm around him.  
When Stiles hears footsteps in the hall he releases Derek who holds up a set of keys and says, “Ready to go?”  
As Stiles opens his mouth to respond, Erica jumps between them, swiping Derek’s keys as she says, “Me, Stiles, Isaac, and Scott are driving together.”  
Stiles flashes Derek an apologetic smile, then cups his hands around his mouth and leans back to yell “B1 _squuaaad_.”  
“ _Squuaaad_ ” Isaac, Erica, and Scott chorus as they troop out of the apartment towards the cars parked in front of the building. The old class project group had been recently lamenting the fact that they hadn’t hung out just the four of them since Business 101 ended, so they decided to resurrect old times and make the road trip together.  
They pass Jackson negotiating with Laura and Allison about being allowed to drive one of the cars. Scott gives Allison a hug from behind and a kiss on the cheek before joining Stiles in the back seat of the silver honda they have been assigned to. Derek finally exits the apartment when Laura relentlessly blasts the horn. Stiles waves to him out of the window as Erica speeds off.  
As soon as the car clears the apartment complex Erica starts fiddling with the radio. She finally stops flipping, when they hear ‘Wait’ by Maroon 5, and merrilly steers onto the highway. After a few minutes Stiles notices Jackson’s car pulling up from behind them in the next lane. As it passes by, Scott plasters himself against the window making gross faces until someone from the other car notices. That person turns out to be Cora who makes faces right back.  
“I think we’re gonna like Cora.” Scott says, peeling himself off the window once Jackson’s car can no longer be seen.  
“Cora is awesome.” Erica says flipping radio stations again.  
“Totally.” Isaac agrees. “How’d your meet and greet go Stiles?”  
Stiles sighs and dramatically drapes himself across the back seat, putting his head in Scott’s lap. “It was okay I guess.” Stiles’ voice is muffled from the arm he threw across his face.  
“Adam!” Erica happily exclaims. Stiles is momentarily confused as to how someone named Adam relates to his situation, but then Stiles realizes that the radio has finally ceased its insistent skipping and is playing Maroon 5.  
Stiles sighs again and settles in for the ride. Erica continues her pattern of flipping radio stations until she hears Adam Levine, sounding more delighted each time. In the back, Stiles and Scott take turns lying down fully across the bench with their feet on the window and head in the other’s lap.  
After almost an hour and a half they pull off at a rest area along the highway, and go in to use the bathrooms. At the urinals, Scott sends a picture of his face to the trip group chat with the update: 

SM: pp break

“Scott what the fuck?” Stiles asks chuckling a bit, torn between wondering what could have possibly possessed his friend and knowing deep down that this is a very Scott thing to do. Cora sends back a photo of what looks like Jackson mid angry rant, with the caption:

C: excellent update, please continue sending more of the like -JWitt

Having agreed to switch drivers for every rest station they stop at, Isaac volunteers to take the second shift. His phone is hooked up to the aux cord and playing the Hamilton soundtrack before Stiles even gets his seatbelt on. Everyone is assigned two parts and they all sing with gusto. When Isaac stops for gas a little over an hour later, Scott gets behind the wheel.  
“Alright driver what are we listening to?” Erica inquires.  
“Oh I’ve got a good one.” Scott bounces in his seat. “Stiles plug in my phone.”  
“No Scott we are not listening to your ‘songs that make me think of Allison’ playlist.” Stiles tosses Scott’s phone out of reach for good measure.  
“It's a good playlist!”  
“Nono. I’ve got this.” Stiles picks up his phone and logs into Lydia’s spotify account so they can listen to her playlist of old Disney star songs. Scott tries to be hurt but can’t resist joining in with Stiles as they emphatically sing “If We Were A Movie” to each other. Isaac and Erica quickly get into the spirit and join in. When Jesse McCartney’s “Right Where You Want Me” comes on Erica says “this is exactly the song I hoped would come on next!’ so Stiles cranks the volume.  
As the song winds down Isaac says, “guys we should watch Return to Halloweentown tonight.”  
“That's the worst one” Stiles immediately replies.  
“Its March” Erica looks at Stiles like that's what he should have been more concerned with.  
Trying to be diplomatic, Scott offers, “We could watch Halloweentown High?”  
“Oo Oo, Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge!” Stiles excitedly suggests.  
“Are you guys just naming all the Halloweentown movies now?” Erica says, still somehow not understanding the awesomeness that is the Halloweentown franchise.  
“Well they’re all amazing.” Isaac explains.  
“Trap a!” Scott shouts.  
“Apart!” Stiles shouts back, finishing the classic spell.  
“Trap a!”  
“Apart!”  
Isaac joins in, and they stop only when Erica attempts to hurl herself out of the vehicle. They boys hastily agree to play a road trip game as Isaac leans over Erica to close and lock her door.  
They play until Scott can’t hold in the extra large slurpee he bought and pulls into the first gas station he sees. Stiles takes over driving and Erica snags shotgun while Scott is in the bathroom. Scott makes a pouty face when comes back out and sees Erica reclining in the recently vacated seat with her feet on the dash.  
Scott sadly gets into the back with Isaac and asks, “Okay so can we finish what we were talking about now that Jackson isn’t here?”  
Assuming he is referencing the indelicate conversation about Stiles’ sex life they were having before departing, Stiles says, “Yea, I wasn’t lying though, we are taking it slow.”  
“And you’re happy with that?” Scott gently prods.  
“Well i've never had sex and I am very interested in trying it, like very interested, really, really interested. But i'm happy just being Derek’s boyfriend the way things are.”  
“That's good.”  
“Yea but do you think he’s not happy?” Stiles suddenly panics. “Is it me? Do I disgust him?”  
“It's not you.” Isaac cuts in.  
“How do you know?” Stiles demands.  
“Well obviously because no one's ever returned Derek’s volleyball serve, if you know what I mean.” Erica quips.  
Stiles does not know what she means. “What?”  
“Oh shit, you don't know. Never mind.” Erica gives Isaac a guilty look.  
“You don't have anything to worry about Stiles.” Isaac reassures him. “Just talk to Derek about it.”  
Stiles heaves a dramatic sigh, too focused on getting around this stupid blue car in front of them to notice the pointed ‘we’ll talk about this later look’ Isaac gives Erica, who not so subtly reaches down to crank up the volume on the music. Despite his muddled emotions, Stiles can’t stop himself from joining in on an epic rendition of ‘Let It Go.’


	2. Faceplants And Wet Butts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV: Derek

As they pull up the winding driveway, Derek can see his family’s cabin slowly come into view. It looks exactly as it did last year, surrounded by trees, situated in a small clearing just before the mountain begins a gradual incline. Laura parks a short way from the entrance and offers to give Lydia a tour before lugging their bags inside. The two women hit it off almost immediately after meeting and spent the entire car ride bonding. Derek isn’t sure he’s ever seen Lydia giggle the way she did when Laura made a particularly vulgar Harry Potter joke. Derek exchanges a look with Boyd and they offer to get the house in order before everyone piles in with all their stuff.  
Laura leads them up the driveway and dramatically opens the door for Lydia. “Welcome to our winter home.”  
“Why thank you.” Lydia links her arm with Laura’s and together they walk up the staircase across the entryway to embark on their tour. Derek and Boyd follow them in at a distance and remain on the ground level walking around and plugging things in at random. As Derek is adjusting the fridge temperature, Jackson slams the door open and stomps over to him looking slightly unhinged.  
“Oh my gods we just went on the rest stop tour of the west coast.” Jackson begins venting. His car consisted of the people deemed able to stand him in an enclosed space for that long of a period of time. I.e. Danny, Allison, and well Cora didn’t know him yet so they tricked her into it. According to Jackson’s rant, she seems to have compensated by getting him to stop in almost every other county where she would grab all available tourist fliers in order to read aloud the roadside attractions for the car and tell Jackson they should stop at whatever world’s largest something that town claims to have. Derek is impressed by her innovation, and also glad not to be the victim of it for once.  
While Jackson rants, Derek sees the door slam open again, allowing Erica, Isaac, Stiles, and Scott to streak through it, having evidently decided to speed run their own tour. Jackson takes no interest in this, and continues talking at Derek, providing Cora with the opportunity to sneak up behind him practically shaking with mirth.  
“Hey Jackson. Hey Jackson. Remember on the way home we have to stop at the Yard Bird Statues. There are only two still standing at the former corporate flagship location.” This, of course, sets him off again, and Derek tries valiantly to hide his amusement. Thankfully, they’re all distracted when Stiles and Scott come thundering down the stairs.  
Stiles skids to a stop in front of Derek and just about shouts in his face, “We found the best room, get your bags so we can claim it!” Without waiting for a response, Stiles speeds off to the car he arrived in.  
“Go! Go! Go!” Scott attempts to heard Allison, who had been chatting with Boyd in the living room, toward her car’s trunk.  
“Ohh is this a classic Stiles and Scott competition?” Cora asks excitedly.  
“NOPE.” Erica speeds past Cora, ruffling her hair.  
“Oh shit!” Cora jumps into action stealing the keys from Jackson’s hand.  
“Well I guess this is happening.” Derek says to Jackson before rushing around him towards his own car, not wanting his little sister to get the jump on him. Outside, Derek watches as Erica grabs her bag and slams the trunk, narrowly avoiding crushing Scott’s hand. She then throws the keys down the driveway and runs inside cackling, Scott cursing her name as he scrambles to retrieve them.  
Derek and Boyd are last with their bags as they first had to find Laura for the keys after running outside only to discover their car locked. Stiles and Erica wait with Allison and Scott in what they have apparently deemed the best room left, cheering on their respective significant others. Derek and Boyd battle up the stairs and Derek just barely scrapes out a win by throwing his bags and himself inside the room.  
“Woohoo!” Stiles cheers jumping up and down. “Suck it Reyes!”  
Derek flops over onto his back and gives his boyfriend a high five from the ground. “Yea, suck it Reyes.” Erica sticks her tounge out at him and cruelly nudges the elbow he landed on in retribution as she exits the room. Derek flips her off as Stiles helps him up.  
“That was epic dude.” Scott jumps of the bed he and Allison will be sharing and hugs his new roommates.  
“Who knew our little Derek was such an action star.” Allison praises, gently patting Derek’s elbow.  
Clearly on a high from their victory, Scott and Stiles decide that the four of them need a roommate code to be used for the duration of the trip. They also come up with what they call the “best-room-roommates handshake,” taking gloating to a level Derek has only seen when Laura simultaneously won their family's three week clue tournament and correctly guessed each family member’s unshown cards.  
He says as much to Allison, who laughs, “I think they’re just genuinely happy we’re all rooming together.”  
“But they’re roomates at school?”  
“And they love each other so much.”  
“And us apparently.” Derek says, watching Stiles and Scott determine that the code for Derek would be ‘eyebrows.’ He looks back at Allison and sees her giving him a significant look. “Not like that...we’re not...I didn’t mean...we haven’t said it yet.”  
“Mmhhmm.” Allison hums still smiling.  
Derek sighs and focuses on unpacking his bag, pointedly not looking at Allison. Once everyone has had a chance to calm down for a few minutes they all meander their way back to the living room.  
“So what are we doing today?” Erica asks their group at large, taking a seat on the couch with Cora and Boyd.  
“Sleigh riding!” Isaac excitedly raises his hand.  
“Or sleep?” Boyd proposes.  
“Or sleigh riding!” Isaac counters, hand still in the air.  
“We always do sleigh riding the first day.” Cora says, nudging Boyd with her toe. “You know it’ll be fun.”  
“I know, but I’m tired.” Boyd says leaning his head back and closing his eyes.  
“So we’ll get you some caffeine!” Cora says cheerily, lightly slapping Boyd’s face. “The county welcome center is close by, I’m sure they have-”  
“SO SLEIGH RIDING?” Jackson stands up quickly, cutting Cora off. “Let’s do that. Just that.”  
They rest of the group quickly agrees and heads of to find something warmer to wear at Lydia’s behest. Derek gives Cora a fist bump as he passes her on his way to grab the sleds. Derek takes a second to survey the closet and feels someone's chin settle on his shoulder.  
“Yo hook me up with the good shit.” Stiles extends grabby hands towards one of the more firm bodyboards. Derek pretends not to know what ‘the good shit’ is and tries to pass him a bright orange saucer, a cracked toboggan, and some old wooden contraption before Stiles shoulders past Derek to claim the board he had his eye on. “Oh you think you’re so funny.” Stiles says when Derek breaks and lets out a chuckle at his exasperation.  
“Not as funny as your face.”  
“Good one.” Stiles says dryly. “I know you love this face.”  
“I do.” Derek cheerfully admits and leans in for a quick kiss.  
Once everyone is suited up for a short journey into the snow they all grab a board from Derek and head out along the path behind the cabin. The extra layers fail them almost immediately; Derek can hear Isaac’s teeth chattering even with five people between them.  
“You know most people go somewhere warm during spring break.” Lydia complains, passing her board to Jackson so she can rub her velvet gloved hands up and down her arms.  
“We’re trail blazers!” Stiles declares. He and Scott start singing The Road to El Dorado’s “The Trail We Blaze” as they march ahead of the group wildly swinging their body boards to clear a path.  
They emerge into a spot that is not quite part of the mountain, and more like half of a sump next to it. Derek, Cora, and Laura found this place when Derek was in eighth grade and their parents finally let Laura- who had just entered high school and was thereby ‘responsible’- take them out exploring. In all of their time coming here, they haven’t seen any evidence of anyone else knowing about the area. As a result, the whole place is blanketed in fresh, undisturbed, white snow.  
All those new to the cabin look around in wonder. Scott quietly whispers, “It's like a winter wonderland.”  
They all agree to take the first run down together. Everyone spreads out, gets on their assorted sleighs and pushes off on Erica’s count. After that it becomes a free-for-all with people running up and down, having mini races, sliding into eachothers lanes, laughing and smiling all the while. When the initial frenzy winds down a bit Derek takes a second to catch his breath and watch his friends be dorks.  
Scott tries to surf the snow standing upright on his body board and faceplants after only five feet. Cora gets in one of the saucers and demands a push. Laura and Stiles lock eyes and smile slyly at each other. They each take one handle of the saucer and push together so that Cora is spinning around as she goes down the hill shrieking in delight. Laura is next on the wooden sleigh that she maintains is “an oldie but a goodie.” Stiles backs up to take a running start, claiming he needs it “in order to reach maximum velocity.” Stiles charges at Laura and pushes her sleigh as hard as he can, managing to slide halfway down the hill after her. Derek can’t help but feel immensely happy that Stiles gets along so well with his sisters. He fits right in with their quirky and devious dynamic. Derek should have known he didn’t have anything to worry about.  
On the other side of the hill, Erica, Boyd, Isaac, and Lydia seem to be in the midst of concocting some sort of odd super sled. Erica and Boyd are squished onto one bodyboard with Isaac and Lydia behind them on another. They all try to go down together using Isaac and Boyd to hold the boards together. They start down the hill with Boyd holding onto Erica- who is holding the front handles- with his legs and Isaac with his arms. Isaac sits cross legged and holds onto Boyd’s back handles, secured to his board by Lydia. Well he's suppose to be secured by Lydia. She appears to panic at the last second and not push off at the same time as the group, leaving her at the top of the hill clutching the board watching in mild horror as Isaac gets dragged down the hill after Erica and Boyd with nothing beneath him. Jackson points and laughs while Danny collapses next to him in a fit of giggles.  
Soon after, Allison gestures for Derek to join her. “Come be adventurous with me.”  
“What type of adventure?” Derek steps towards her and cocks an eyebrow.  
“We’re going down backwards.” Allison hands him a board with a slightly manic grin.  
Derek, isn’t sure what is is about Allison, but he goes along with her plan without question. Thankfully, he makes it to the bottom unscaithed. However Allison’s run is much more eventful. Halfway down, she crashes into a small tree and gets major air. Apparently graced with the reflexes and balance of a feline, Allison lands perfectly back on the slope and rockets to the bottom where she lifts her hands like a gymnast to the judges. Lydia claps and awards her a 9.72.  
Derek and Allison stay sitting where they landed and look up to watch Stiles, on his board, grasping onto a root to keep himself from sliding down the ridge; clearly regretting his decision to go down what Cora titled ‘the level 10 hill.’ Scott stands above him with an evil smile on his face. The way Scott leans over his helpless friend reminds Derek of Mufasa’s death scene in The Lion King. Apparently he’s not the only one.  
“Scott! Broth- Brother! Help me!” Stiles pleads, struggling to remain atop the steep slope.  
Scott slowly reaches down takes his hand and rips it from its grasp on the roots, Stiles sails backwards down the steep windy slope. “I am the King now!” Scott shouts down at his friend spreading his hands in triumph. Stiles, screaming the whole way down, lands in a heap at the bottom of the hill and groans from under his body board. Scott easily slides down the smoother area and rams his board into Stiles’s prone form.  
“I can't believe you did that Scott.” Comes Stiles’ muffled voice from the ground.  
“Dude that was epic.”  
“I think I bruised my tailbone.”  
Derek would be worried about his boyfriend, but he's seen Stiles do enough stupid stuff to know when he's really hurting. He's learned that the more Stiles complains the less hurt he actually is. When Stiles is really injured, he tries to play it off, and that's when Derek gets nervous. That being said, Derek walks over anyway to check on Stiles and be a supportive boyfriend. He helps Stiles stand up and almost immediately regrets it when Stiles goes overboard playing up his injuries and pretends to collapse into Derek’s arms. Derek promptly drops him into the deep snow.  
“Hey!” Stiles squawks, offended. He then, far too quickly for someone who claims to be on death’s door, knocks Derek’s legs out from under him, causing Derek to fall right next to Stiles.  
“Hey!” Derek echos Stiles, who can’t seem to resist pulling Derek in for a kiss. They are quickly pelted with snowballs and told to get a room. Both Derek and Stiles, seemingly of the same mind, scoop up snow and return fire. A massive snowball fight ensues, which everyone gets in on.  
Derek and Stiles form a perfectly cohesive team. Stiles picks up a body board and uses it for a shield as he charges up the hill with Derek right behind him throwing snowballs over Stiles’ crouched stance like a machine. No one is safe. Derek hits Cora squarely in the face; Laura yells and jumps over her own shield to avenge their sister. Distracted by Laura running at him, Derek gets hit from behind, he whirls around and is hit again by Allison. Derek and Stiles form up back to back, like they’re in an action movie, and redouble their efforts to take on their friends.  
When the fight finally dies down, everyone takes a rest. Scott lets himself fall backwards into the snow and lays motionless with his limbs sticking out in whatever way they fell. The rest of them laugh and rehash the particularly funny and intense moments of the battle. Eventually Lydia announces that it is too cold and they should go inside. Isaac wholeheartedly agrees and is the first to begin gathering their things. Soon they all troop back down the path towards the cabin.  
Isaac, still complaining of the cold, wiggles his finger in his ear and whines at Derek, “Dude you got me in the ear.”  
“You’re fine.” Derek responds monotonically.  
“There's still water dripping out.”  
Derek bends down to scoop up some snow. “Here let me get the other one and even it out.” Isaac takes off running towards the cabin, Derek in hot pursuit.


	3. No One Dies, But Jackson Does Consider Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV: Stiles

Stiles wakes up to the smell of bacon and the warmth of Derek next to him. Stiles smiles and snuggles closer. He hears what sounds like a pan bang, and it dawns on him that someone is cooking bacon downstairs.  
“Is some angle cooking bacon right now?”  
“Bacon?” comes Scott’s garbled sleepy reply. He says nothing else and scoots closer to Allison who has fully burritoed with all the covers  
“Useless.” Stiles mutters. “Derek do you smell bacon?”  
Derek says nothing but reaches out to cover Stiles’ mouth with his hand. Stiles bats the hand away and starts lightly poking Derek’s cheek chanting “Bacon. Bacon. Bacon.” Derek gives no sign that he feels anything, so Stiles gives up and goes down to investigate on his own. He passes Erica and Boyd still asleep on the pull out sofa in the connected living room. Boyd is face down and completely dead to the world. Erica has a pillow over her head looking like she’s awake, but trying desperately not to be. Stiles finds Isaac sitting excitedly at the kitchen table with a fork and knife already in his hands, and hurriedly joins him as Laura ladles batter into a pan on the stove.  
“Chocolate chips in your pancakes Stiles?”  
“Yes please!” Stiles enthusiastically grabs his own fork and knife.  
“Laura is the best mom friend.” Isaac whispers conspiratorially to Stiles.  
“I try.” Laura places a platter of bacon on the table and kisses the top of Isaac’s head.  
Stiles salivates at the sight of the hefty plate and immediately digs in. The meat is nice and crispy just like he likes it. “Oh my gods this is amazing, Laura you are my new favorite Hale.”  
“I resent that” Cora says, walking into the kitchen.  
“You’ve never made me bacon Cora.”  
“That's fair.” Cora sits down and takes the plate of chocolate chip pancakes Laura just placed in front of Stiles.  
“Hey!” Stiles protests through a mouthful of bacon.  
“Heyy” Cora cheerily responds, as if it were a greeting, and digs into her commandeered pancakes. Stiles tries to be mad but the bacon is too good, plus Isaac lets Stiles have one of his pancakes while they wait for Laura’s next batch, which Stiles grabs directly from the pan- just incase. Laura chuckles at his little speed walk and leans against the counter still holding the now empty pan loosely in one hand, eating chocolate chips straight from the bag with the other. Stiles gives Isaac a pancake from his plate and keeps a suspicious eye on both Cora and the room at large as he sits down.  
Soon after, Lydia glides down the stairs looking effortlessly amazing. Sleep shirt sliding down to reveal one shoulder; hair unbound and without product, yet still smooth and shiny. She looks like she just rolled out of bed georgus. However, Stiles knows from experience that it takes Lydia at least twenty minutes to look fabulous without looking like she’s trying to look fabulous. He vaguely wonders who she’s playing it up for, but shoves almost an entire pancake in his mouth to keep from saying anything he shouldn’t because Stiles is a great friend; also because Laura’s pancakes have an obscene amount of chocolate chips in them and it is wonderful.  
Laura accidentally drops the pan she’s holding when Lydia walks into the kitchen, waking Erica who rolls over, surveys the scene and asks Lydia “How are you always so perfect?”  
Lydia flips her hair and says, “I just am.”  
Erica smirks at Laura knowingly before closing her eyes and snuggling closer to Boyd. Laura glares at the back of Erica’s head whilst picking up the fallen pan and walking into the living room. There she “accidentally” drops it much louder and closer to Erica.  
“Fuck you I'm awake, I’m awake.” Erica begrudgingly gets out of bed; Boyd half heartedly reaches for her to come back.  
Eventually everyone makes it into the kitchen for breakfast and they agree to go to the slopes today. The decision between skiing and snowboarding is hotly debated. Lydia goes so far as to say that “snowboarding is for heathens.”  
To which Stiles responds “skiing is just a pale imitation of the sheer awesomeness and athleticism that is snowboarding.”  
“Oh shut up, you just want to be like Red Gerard.”  
“He’s a legend!”  
They end up splitting right down the middle. With the snowboarders being: Scott, Cora, Stiles, Isaac, Boyd, and Erica; and the skiers being: Laura, Derek, Jackson, Lydia, Allison, and Danny. Geared up at the base of the slopes, it becomes immediately apparent who knows what their doing, who is a hopelessly off balance disaster, and- in the case of Stiles and Scott- who is living it up in a fantasy world.  
“Double mcTwist!” Scott uses his entire body to jump one foot in the air while flashing duces.  
“Nose grab!” Stiles bends down and touches the tip of his board.  
They are mostly ignored by the more _responsible_ and _advanced_ winter sport enthusiasts who are tightening their boots and deciding their plan for the day, so Stiles and Scott take this time to amble to the top of the small hill they’ve all congregated around. Scott turns his board so he slowly slides down in a clockwise motion. Successfully at the bottom he lifts his hands and shouts “Triple cork!”  
Stiles attempts the same turn down the mound but falls on his butt instead. “ _Backside_ 750!” They both laugh as Scott gives Stiles a fist bump for his pun and helps him stand upright.  
“You guys are ridiculous” Lydia says, holding Allison’s hand as they make their way up the actual bunny hill a few feet away. Laura waits at the bottom with her arms open and ready to catch Allison incase she falls.  
Lydia and Laura promised to take Allison under their collective wing when she agreed to ski with them, but as she draws close to an hour under their tutelage Allison just can’t seem to get past the “being strapped down” concept.  
“I just feel like my feet are attached to weirdly long bricks I have no control over.” Allison plops down awkwardly in the snow.  
“I feel you.” Stiles sighs, collapsing against Derek’s solid form. Stiles is experiencing a similar problem himself; mostly due to his complete lack of balance on the board. He’s gotten better at sliding straight down the little hill but any attempt he makes at a turn ends in disaster. Derek has gone so far as to attempt skiing next to him holding his hand, but apparently Stiles can only find a modicum of balance when he is practically T-posing down the hill- which he only did initially to mess with Cora who, after the half hour mark, has been slightly patronizing in her demonstrations of proper form.  
“Don’t worry Allison, no one is worse than Stiles.” Cora assures their friend.  
“Umm excuse you, there are a few strong contenders.” Stiles indignantly points over to where Erica is supposedly instructing Scott and Boyd. However it looks to Stiles like she’s just showing Scott tricks he does not have the skill set to accomplish and laughing at he and Boyd when they wipe out in a particularly odd fashion. Next to them, Isaac, Danny, and Jackson seem to have gotten board on the bunny hill and are attempting to race down it backwards. Somehow they don’t fall and break their necks- which Stiles finds incredibly unfair. Derek laughs at his friends and moves closer to Laura when she beckons him. They seem to have a quick conference, then Laura snaps her head up.  
“Alright,” Laura claps her hands, “time to go on the big kid trails.”  
“Time to separate the boys from the men.” Jackson adds.  
“The weak from the strong.” Lydia flexes her fingers around her ski poles.  
“The kids from the slightly more coordinated kids.” Cora smirks at Stiles who sticks his tongue out at her.  
“You coming Cora?” Laura asks her sister.  
Trying to subtly scoot closer, Stiles suddenly loses his balance, slips, and probably would have fallen down the slope on his face if Cora didn’t grab Stiles’ arm to steady him as she says “Nah, these guys need all the help they can get.” Erica decides to stick around as well, but Stiles has a feeling that her reasons are much more nefarious.  
“Alrighty then, let's head out.” Laura pivots in her skis and starts off toward the lift.  
“Black diamond!” Isaac high fives Derek as he skis past.  
“Are you going to be okay if I go with them?” Derek quietly asks Stiles.  
“Yea, go have fun.” Stiles assures him. “Leave me in Cora’s very capable hands.”  
“Yes Derek my hands are very capable.” Cora says seriously. Derek shakes his head and heads off after Laura, Lydia, Jackson, Isaac, and Danny. The second Derek turns his back, Cora lets go and pushes Stiles down the hill with zero hesitation. Completely blindsided, Stiles shrieks and desperately windmills his arms to try and keep his balance. He doesn’t even make it halfway down the hill before wiping out, somehow getting snow down his entire back despite his many layers. Stiles doesn’t bother trying to get up just yet. He can hear Erica cackling above him, so he raises his middle finger in her and Cora’s general direction.  
Stiles and the rest of the B team mess around on the bunny hills for a while longer. Too lazy to unstrap and restrap their boards, Stiles and Scott start crawling up the hills inchworm style. Cora gives them some helpful pointers on their way down; Erica points and laughs. Stiles is surprised to see that Boyd is almost as bad as him and Allison.  
“Dude don’t you come here with the rest of them?” Stiles asks, “Shouldn’t you at least be more coordinated than me?”  
“You’d think.” Boyd repositions himself at the top of the hill. “But every time I come here it feels like I’m learning all over again.” He then takes a deep breath and shifts his weight to start slowly sliding down. Boyd very quickly loses control and wipes out at Erica’s feet, which triggers yet another fit of giggles from her.  
“You know you could help me.” Boyd lifts his head to look up at his girlfriend.  
Erica, wiping tears from her eyes, attempts to catch her breath, “but this is _much_ more fun.” Boyd lets his head fall back into the snow.  
Eventually Stiles is too cold to continue on. He has somehow managed to get an entire hills worth of snow down his shirt, in his boots, and anywhere freezing and uncomfortable he could possibly think of. They decide to call it a day and, at Stiles’ insistence, agree to grab hot chocolate for everyone, before meeting up with the A team in the lounge.  
When they arrive at the table their friends have acquired, Laura looks up and immediately says, “You guys, Isaac almost died on the black diamond.”  
“What?!” Everyone starts asking questions at the same time. Stiles, forgetting all about the cold and the drinks in his hands, looks Isaac over head to toe. Nothing jumps out at him as an obvious injury. He does look pretty shaken though. So does Danny come to think of it.  
“Are you okay??” Allison rushes over to Isaac.  
Lydia quiets them down and begins the story. “He tripped at the top-”  
“I hit a hidden outcropping of rocks.” Isaac interrupts.  
“-He tripped at the top and tumbled down half the mountain.”  
“Dude I literally thought he died.” Laura interjects.  
Jackson nods his head. “I thought we were gonna catch up to him and find a corpse with its head bashed in.”  
“That’s so terrible.” Allison sits with one arm gently around Isaac’s shoulders, the other petting his hair.  
Derek steps in to assure her, “Danny was very heroic. He hurtled down the mountain and lept to Isaac’s aid.”  
“Well someone had to patch up the clutz.” Danny sits on Isaac’s other side tightly holding his hand.  
Isaac grimaces. “Those rocks were well hidden.” Both boys seem to be trying to pretend they’ve shaken off the scare of the near death experience, but Stiles can tell Danny has no intentions of leaving his boyfriend’s side any time soon. Wanting to take the attention off his rattled friend, Stiles passes out the hot chocolates they picked up. Still freezing from his many falls into the snow, Stiles takes a big gulp of his and yells at the scalding temperature.  
“OH MY GODS WHY IS IT SO HOT?!”  
“It's called _hot_ chocolate.” Derek teases him.  
“Yea not Satan’s tears.” Stiles braves another sip hoping he will be able to feel his fingertips soon. “Fuck! Hot!”  
“Just wait for it to cool off.”  
“I need hot chocolate right now more than I need taste buds.” Stiles says very seriously, still shaking from the cold. Derek frowns at Stiles sympathetically and gives him a hug causing Stiles to yelp as the snow stuck in his jacket presses closer to his skin.  
Clearly done for the day the group heads out to the parking lot. Stiles tries to shake the residual snow out of his pant leg as he follows along.  
Danny and Isaac insist on driving with Allison and Derek so they don’t “survive a mountain only to die in a car crash.” The Hale sisters ride with Erica and Boyd, Erica now sarcastically over-coddling Boyd because he told her that she didn’t care for him like Danny did Isaac. This leaves Jackson, Lydia, Scott, and Stiles to pile into the last car.  
Teeth chattering, Stiles whines for Lydia to bequeath the front seat to him. “I _need_ the vents, I’m literally getting hypothermia.” Lydia sighs like it's such a hardship for her and gets in the back seat.  
On the other side of the car Jackson demands that Scott give him the keys, insisting that he cannot be trusted behind the wheel. “Particularly not after that _one time_.” Scott too sighs dramatically and gets in the back.  
Jackson backs out of their spot while Stiles, as the default navigator, pulls up google maps on his phone. Not two minutes into the ride Jackson is already yelling at Stiles to give him the directions “in a more timely manner.” To which Stiles insists Jackson not question Google because “she knows when you need them.”  
“How did we let this happen?” Scott laments to Lydia. Jackson and Stiles answer at the same time:  
Stiles: “Because Jackson is a control freak.”  
Jackson: “Because Stiles is a whiny baby.”  
Stiles turns around in time to see Scott and Lydia roll their eyes at each other. Rude. With Jackson getting more and more pretentious, Stiles decides to have a little fun with him. The next time directions are demanded of him Stiles sagely responds, “Go where your heart tells you.”  
“W-what?” Jackson sputters out. Scott laughs behind them.  
“Which way? Right or left?” Jackson asks stopping at an intersection.  
“Follow your heart” Stiles calmly tells him.  
“My heart wants to know right or left!?”  
“Just believe in yourself man.”  
They continue on like this for a good 10 minutes. Jackson threatens to push Stiles out of the moving vehicle and Scott is practically in tears laughing at Stiles’ enlightened directions. Finally Stiles comes clean and tells them that he actually lost service about five minutes into the drive.  
“Oh my gods Stiles!” Lydia yells over Jackson’s groan of primal rage and Scott’s surprised bark of laughter.  
“It’s fine it’s fine.” Stiles assures them. “The last thing I remember seeing is something about Penguin Lake?”  
And thus the search for Penguin Lake begins as Jackson continues to drive in what he “feels like is the general direction of the Hale cabin.”  
Eventually, they drive over a small wooden planneled bridge causing everyone's heads whip around as Scott excitedly asks, “Was that penguin lake!?”  
“If it was then we’re definitely close!” Stiles falsely exudes confidence while looking at his phone as if it tells him anything they don’t already know.  
“I remember that sign!” Lydia suddenly leans over Stiles and points out the windshield. “Take a right at the next intersection.”  
“See Jackson? The power of friendship guided us home.” Stiles puts his legs up on the dashboard as if this was the plan all along.  
“Shut up Stilinski.”


	4. Brused Butts, Double Dares, And A Lot Of Love To Go Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV: Derek

“So do we know what happened to Jackson and them?” Erica asks the room at large. Everyone, minus Jackson, Lydia, Stiles, and Scott, has returned from the slopes and stuffed themselves into to the Hale cabin’s kitchen.  
“It’s been a while,” Cora hops up to sit on the counter, “maybe they got lost?”  
“I think I saw Scott with the keys,” Danny ventures, “anything could have happened.”  
“He’s really not that bad.” Allison insists. No one argues with her, but Danny looks like he's having flashbacks. Derek wonders what that's about, but decides to mind his business in favor of retrieving the shot glasses from the top shelf. Laura suggested that they have a toast to “another successful and non lethal snowventure,” and has liberated the good alcohol from her secret stockpile. Derek passes the glasses to his sister and as she arranges them on the table to pour everyone a glass, they hear a bang from the front door.  
“Fucking finally!” Jackson storms through the entrance in a fashion that Derek supposes is his signature move now.  
Derek asks “What happened to you guys?” To which he receives a range of immediate responses.  
Stiles: “Jackson followed his heart.”  
Lydia: “Don’t ask.”  
Scott: “We went on a magical adventure.”  
Jackson slumps down onto an open kitchen chair, looking utterly defeated. Laura gently pats his head and passes him a shot. Once everyone has a glass in hand, Cora raises hers and loftily declares, “Tonight we drink to Isaac’s health, and will now attempt to kill him in another manner.” The room responds in choruses of “Here-here!” “To Isaac!” and one scarily cheerful “To death!”  
“We should listen to ‘My Shot’ and drink everytime they say ‘shot.’” Stiles says, settling in next to Derek.  
“We would die of alcohol poisoning before the second chorus.” Derek responds.  
“But what a way to go, am I right?”  
“You’re a menace.”  
Stiles winks and accepts the glass being offered to him by Laura. Next to him, Jackson pours the shot he’s given in the sink.  
“Dude what are you doing?”  
“Pouring one out for my sanity. It died on the way here.”  
Stiles and Danny enthusiastically raise their glasses, and Danny toasts “To the final departure of Jackson’s sanity.”  
“We will remember him in song.” Stiles adds. With another chorus of “here-here” everyone raises their glass and drinks to that.  
As the night progresses it becomes apparent to Derek that Erica and Boyd are in one of their more cutesy coupley moods. What started as Erica sarcastically over exaggerating her affection for her boyfriend has turned into Erica sitting on Boyd’s lap and making out in front of everyone.  
Jackson scoffs at the unrestrained pda. “I still can’t believe you guys wouldn’t let me bring Ethan. I mean look at this.”  
“It's a friends only trip.” Lydia informs him, seemingly not bothered in the least by the display of affection.  
“Lydia didn’t get to bring Parish.” Erica adds, breaking away from Boyd.  
“Parish and Lydia aren’t together anymore.” Jackson snipes back.  
“What?! Where have I been?”  
“Up Boyd’s ass.” Lydia smirks at her friend.  
“Literally” Erica wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.  
“Erica!” Outraged, Boyd looks up at Derek for moral support. Derek can only look back at him, helpless to stop what they both know is coming.  
“Im kidding,” Erica pats her boyfriend’s arm and says in a tone meant to convey that she is in fact not kidding “Boyd would _never_ do butt stuff.”  
Boyd sighs dramatically, puts his head in his hands, and, to his credit, only huffs out a slightly embarrassed laugh, as Erica continues to relay -to Jackson and Lydia’s eternal amusement- _exactly_ what Boyd would never do, getting more and more specific as she goes.  
Derek never thought he’d be so happy to see one of Scott’s made up hand signals, calling him for a “best room roommates meeting.” As funny as it is to see Boyd squirm, there are some things Derek isn’t sure he needs to know about his friends.  
Derek follows Scott, Allison, and Stiles upstairs, and with the door closed they immediately begin debriefing about how the festivities are going thus far.  
“So Laura and Lydia seem to be really hitting it off.” Allison posits. Agreeing with Allison, but trying not to call out his sister, Derek agrees that the two seem to have become fast friends, and admits that he was worried that Cora and Laura wouldn’t mesh well with their group.  
“Oh no way dude.” Scott assures him, “Cora and Laura are the best. They should be official additions to the squad.”   
“Well I wouldn't go that far” Derek jokes. Although the more he thinks about it, the more he warms up to the idea. He, Cora, and Laura have always been both siblings _and_ friends. It would be nice to be able to hang out with them more. Their conversation eventually turns to who will get to use their shower first. With no decision able to be quickly made they somehow end up playing the children's hand clapping game ‘quack diddly oso’ which Scott wins with a resounding slap on Stiles’ right hand. Scott puts both fists in the air in silent victory and backs into the adjoining bathroom. Shaking their heads Allison, Stilles, and Derek retreat back downstairs to find most of their friends in a loose circle in the living room playing truth or dare.  
The game continues on while everyone takes turns showering. After proving that she is not embarrassed in the slightest to reveal the answers to whatever questions they devise, Boyd extracts his revenge on Erica by giving her wild dares. Isaac dares Boyd to throw a bucket of freezing water into Scotts shower. He does it with zero hesitation and they can hear Scott shrieking from the second floor. Standing up to high five Boyd and take his turn in the shower, Stiles dares Jackson to “order me a pizza before I return.”  
“I don’t think they get delivery up in the mountains Stiles.” Allison informs him.  
“But I’m _hungry_!” Stiles throws his head back and fake pouts up the stairs.  
Chuckling, Derek goes to the kitchen to put a frozen pizza and some chicken nuggets in the oven for good measure. When he returns, Derek notices a freshly showered Lydia perched on the arm of Laura’s chair. The two of them really crank up the bonding as the game- and the drinking- continues and it soon becomes the joke of the night that they’re falling in love. Eventually Erica dares them to “Oh my Gods just kiss already.”  
They roll their eyes and share a chaste kiss. The girls giggle and claim it to be a weird dare but when asked for an encore by new arrivals that missed it, they don’t complain. Cora jokingly offers to give them the room for the night. Lydia blushes and laughs it off. Laura good naturedly punches her sister in the arm. Hard. Derek knows Laura bonds fast, but this is unlike anything he’s seen. He tries to lock eyes with her, but she pointedly looks away. Figuring that she’ll talk to him about whatever this is once she makes her own mind up about it, Derek internally shrugs and dares Danny to text the most obscure contact on his phone that he’s glad they’re still close friends after all this time. As expected, everyone immediately focuses on debating who Danny should text.  
The revelry continues on for a few hours until Derek and Stiles find themselves eating cold chicken nuggets at two am on the hallway floor outside of their room because everyone else went to sleep and Stiles never ate dinner and is “indescribably hungry.” As he sits down across from Derek, Stiles grunts in pain.  
“I think I bruised my butt bone.” He settles into a position mirroring Derek’s. Back against the wall, legs tangled together next to a plate of chicken.  
“Aww, we’ll get you a butt pad next time.” Derek sympathetically pats the part of his boyfriend’s leg that he can reach.  
As they eat, they begin playing a game that they started months ago in an effort to learn as much as they could about each other, where they take turns asking mundane questions they realize they don’t know the answers to.  
Stiles asks “What are your top five favorite animals?”  
Derek gives a very thoughtful and reasoned answer, concluding “snow leopard, sloth, wolf, goat, gorilla. What's your favorite pasta dish?”  
“Mac and cheese, duh. Who's your favorite super villain? Mine is Bomb Voyage.” They immediately begin trading terrible impressions of the character, and don’t stop until Derek agrees that Bomb Voyage is also his favorite. Laughing too much to ask a new question, Derek just looks at Stiles and is hit with the realization that in this moment, he feels so safe and comfortable with his boyfriend, he would answer anything Stiles could possibly ask him.  
The next morning, the group has a slow start to their day. Some are still recovering from the traumatic and butt bruising events of yesterday, so they decide to have “a chill cabin day,” as Cora puts it. In the late afternoon, Derek looks out the window and notices some of his friends have gone outside to mess around in the snow. Seeing Stiles among their number Derek decides that its time. He puts on his light winter gear, takes a deep breath and steps outside. He walks straight to Stiles, takes his hand and says, “Hey, come with me.”  
“Mmh?” Stiles looks up from the snow castle he’s building. “Okay. Where to?”  
“You’ll see.”  
They walk towards a path Derek knows well. They pass Cora and Isaac making a snowman, and Scott and Laura casually burying Jackson in the snow.  
As they start up the path Stiles looks ahead warily, “Derek where are we going?”  
“You’ll see.” Derek says again.  
“Dude you know I don’t like hiking.”  
“We are not hiking Stiles it’s been like four feet.”  
“Four feet on an _incline_. That’s like double regular feet.” Stiles attempts to use his plastic body board as a walking cane and almost snaps it in half.  
“You are a menace.” Derek shakes his head fondly and grabs Stiles’ board, “Come on.” They reach the cliff Derek was looking for and sit down together, using the board as a makeshift winter picnic blanket. They look out across the expanse. The sight is still breathtaking no matter how many times Derek sees it. He looks over at Stiles who has gone silent staring out over the mountain.  
“Beautiful” Stiles says after a minute.  
“Beautiful” Derek agrees, still looking at his boyfriend’s face.  
Stiles looks over at Derek and sees where his gaze rests. He rolls his eyes at the cheesy line but leans in and kisses him anyway. Its long and passionate and soon they’re sprawled out in the snow, both board and cold forgotten.  
After what could have been minutes or hours, Stiles- who is now lying fully on top of Derek and slowly grinding into him- breaks away from their kiss and looks deep into Derek’s eyes. “How would you feel about taking this back to the cabin?”  
Somehow Derek can tell that Stiles doesn’t mean to fool around like they usually do. The lust in his eyes and the movement of his body tells Derek that he wants more. Is asking for more. Derek’s mouth goes dry and he suddenly gets very nervous. Stiles must sense his hesitation because he immediately rolls off of him. Derek turns so they’re face to face, bodies parallel lying in the snow.  
“Talk to me Der” Stiles says gently.  
Derek clears his throat and looks down, trying to master his nerves. Stiles gives him time to collect his thoughts, exhibiting one of the ways he just gets Derek. This easy understanding is one of the reasons why Derek knows that he needs to just come out and say it. He knows it’ll be fine. He knows it won’t be like it was in the past. Because that was other people and other times, and this is now and this is _Stiles_. Still, that doesn't stop his heart from beating just a little too fast.  
“Im Asexual.” Derek forces out in a breath.  
“Oh.”  
Derek’s heart plummets. He scans Stiles’ face for any sigh of disappointment or confusion.  
“So, sex is off the table then? Thats cool. Umm…”  
Derek prepares himself to put on a brave face and tell Stiles that they can still be friends, he doesn’t know how he would be able to do that though. He could never look at Stiles platonically again. He’s really not sure he ever has.  
“Wait. What about the other stuff? Do you not like that? Oh my gods have I been asking you to do stuff you don't like to do?! I’m so sorry!”  
The clear concern on Stiles’ face stops Derek’s racing mind. He mentally berates himself for letting his anxiety trick him into believing the worst of Stiles for even a second. “No no.” Derek assures Stiles. “I-I’m somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. I like that stuff sometimes.”  
“Few” Stiles exaggeratedly wipes pretend sweat off his forehead. Derek rolls his eyes.  
They lie there for a few minutes, just looking at each other. The loving look in Stiles’ eyes makes Derek’s heart soar. He’s never had the pure immediate acceptance of his sexuality that Stiles has just shown. If Derek thought he couldn't like Stiles anymore than he already did, he was wrong.


End file.
